The Shooting
by stereotone
Summary: A new girl gets pulled into the Pod Squad's world due to an incident at Roswell High. It's only rated "R" for the subject of the story and very few instances of vulgar language.
1. the introduction

Disclaimer: Roswell is on its unfortunate downward spiral on the UPN network. All the stuff is owned here.  
  
Summary: A new girl comes to Roswell and gets involved with the Pod Squad & co...also, trajedy strikes in the halls of West Roswell High  
  
Authors Note: my first fic. No, my name is not Lara, and I do not live in Florida.  
  
  
  
Max stood by his open locker, and turned his head to see Liz walking down the hallway towards him, talking and smiling with someone. Who? He had never seen her before. "Hey Liz," he said.  
  
Liz's face lit up. "Max! Max, this is Lara. She just enrolled here last week. Nat, meet Max. Max, Lara."  
  
The two shook hands.  
  
"Nice to meet you" Max said.  
  
Lara nodded. "Likewise."  
  
The bell rang, and students started to migrate towards the classrooms. The noise level died down, and Liz bid her goodbye. "Kay well, um, I'll see you guys later."  
  
Max watched as Liz walked over. "Bye Liz." He turned to Lara, wondering why she stayed there at his locker. Please don't let this be more trouble...I've gone through too much lately. Let me be Max, the teen. Not Max, the king. "So Lara, what do you have now?"  
  
" My favorite class.a free period." Her lips curled upward to form a small smile.  
  
"Great..me too." All the more time to get to know you, he thought. They walked together to the library, and sat down. "So, where you from?" Max inquired.  
  
"All the way over by Florida."  
  
"You left there? What, too much fun and sun?" He snickered as he wished he could be in the warm Florida weather right now. A cold front was coming.  
  
"Yeah something like that."  
  
*****  
  
They spent the rest of the period idly talking, and getting to know each other. Max wasn't sure whether to trust her or not. He thought to himself that he should be able to at least make friends with someone new in town. It's wasn't natural not to! There was just something so congenial about her though...something easy and cheerful...But soon enough the bell rang once more, and they got up and left the library, back into the hallways.  
  
That's when it happened. 


	2. the shooting

Chapter 2  
  
A loud BANG rang through the halls, then another, and another. Everyone screamed, and they ran in every direction imaginable. Where the shots were coming from, Max and Lara couldn't see. One more bullet was fired. Max went down.  
  
"MAX!" Lara shouted. "Oh my god...oh my god..." She heard yet again another shot, and she felt a sting on her left side. She looked down only to see a ripped shirt, and blood dripping. "SHIT! No, no, no! Why here of all places in bumblefuck New Mexico." She winced, and looked down at Max again. She saw his pain streaking across his face which was almost going pale. He was shot right below the rib...was he dying?  
  
Max managed to whisper, "Liz...where's Liz?"  
  
Lara tried to get her breathing under control. "I-I don't know..um...wait, can you get up? Try and get up Max, we need to get somewhere safe." She tried to help him up, but he slipped. This wasn't going very far. After numerous tries, and more gun fire, spilled blood, panic in the hallways, they reached a place near the boy's bathroom. "Wait right here Max," she nearly dropped Max but helped him sit down, "I'll find her for you."  
  
"...thank you." The strength in his voice was gone.  
  
Lara limped through the hallways, trying to find the classroom Liz was in last. "Liz! Liz Parker!" She heard a faint response at the other end. "Liz, over here! Down by the boy's bathroom, hurry!"  
  
Liz caught up to Lara, nearly panting. "Wha-what is it?" She immediately saw Lara's wound, and gaped. "Oh..my god...are you okay?"  
  
Lara just led Liz toward the bathroom. "I'm..fine. Someone else needs you though." She stared Liz in the face, and knew that Liz knew who she meant. "I'm sorry." By now Lara was straining just to keep up with Liz's frantic pace.  
  
"Liz" That faint voice came up again.  
  
"Max! Oh no Max. Not you. Please not you." She bent down, and stroked his fragile cheeks. "I'm so sorry...oh god I'm so sorry. Why you?!" Tears were streaming down her face. "Lara help me get him into the bathroom."  
  
Together they lifted him up, and pushed the door open. "There's no lock...Max. Max, focus for a minute. Can you...lock this door?"  
  
Lara looked surprised. "Liz what are you talking about?"  
  
"But she's right h-.gah....okay..." Seeing that he had no other choice, Max wearily put his palm to the door, and it fainlty glowed red. No one could enter through that door anymore.  
  
Lara looked at Liz in wonder. "How did he..." Her voice trailed as Max coughed, letting stale air out of his lungs. Lara restated her question, feeling dizzy. Her shirt was becoming a deeper shade of crimson. "How can I help?"  
  
Frantically, Liz was searching Max's eyes, probably for a hint at what to do. "Max help me out here. I can't save you. Not like this Max.dont' go like this. Lara, can you prop his head up for me? Max listen. Hold on. Just hold on."  
  
Max's body didn't listen. His eyes closed as he fell unconscious. Lara was breathing shallower breaths. It was up to Liz.  
  
She looked around the bathroom pointlessly, trying to get an idea. Kneeling by Max, she took his hand, and held it up to her wet cheek. She then put her other hand over his wound, and closed her eyes. She thought to herself, Please, please, just live. This wasn't supposed to happen. Things were finally getting good between us. Live for your son, Max! She opened her eyes, and felt that deep connection with Max all over again. A pang of pain shot through her body. It was his, and he was taking her energy. The healing process had begun. Was this even possible? Questions were flashing through her mind so quickly she couldn't decipher which was which anymore, and who was who. Her mind melded with Max, and she felt his pain, and his fear, of dying. She felt his love, and his shock, regret, and burden, all at once. She felt like she was going to die. Her stomach wrenched, her face was contorted in all kinds of emotions, and then, it was all over. She gasped for air, and broke free of the connection meanwhile falling to the ground.  
  
Max opened his eyes. "Liz."  
  
"Max!" Liz started to tear all over again. She smiled, and even let out a small laugh. "You're okay!" She put a hand under him and helped him sit up. "How do you feel?"  
  
"I'll be okay." He smiled weakly. "What happened?" He looked down, and then back up again, searching for her eyes, suddenly understanding. "Thank you Liz. For...everything."  
  
"Well you might want to just sit back and relax...and wait till all the mayhem dies down." Shots were still ringing in the halls, although less frequently now. "We should all rest. You, me, and..." She heard a thump, and shot her glance toward where Lara was sitting, but now it was -she- who was lying on the floor, weak, and barely breathing.  
  
"This just keeps on getting worse. Max...can you...?" Liz motioned her head toward Lara. "If you're strong enough. I mean.we can't let her die. We can make her think it was a dream or something Max."  
  
He was already kneeling by Lara, hand on her side, concentrating. He owed a lot to that girl.  
  
*****  
  
Things were finally quiet just as cops and paramedics flooded the hallways, looking for the guilty and the wounded. By that time Max, Liz, and Lara had all "unlocked" the bathroom door and tried to clean up any spills of blood, so as to eliminate any cause for suspicion. Lara poked her head out into the hallway to see what was going on. What the hell DID just go on? She opened the door just in time to see two kids dressed halfway skater halfway punk being led down the halls by the cops, hands cuffed behind their back. Lara just assumed they were the shooters. Good, let them be punished. Brats trying to get some frickin' attention in Roswell, New Mexico...how stupid.  
  
Lara stepped out of the bathroom fully, motioning to Liz and Max that it was okay. "Everything looks like it's getting under control again." When she realized the worried look on their faces she added, "Let's go look for whoever you want to find..."  
  
Max snapped out of his semi-zombie mode, and nodded sharply. "Right. Let's go. Lara, go with Liz down that way," he motioned his head toward the right, "and I'll go over there." To the left this time. "Meet back here in 15 minutes. Try to avoid paramedics or anyone who wants to ask questions. We need to find them first." And hope they're still alive.  
  
Without a word Lara was following on Liz's heels down the hallway, practically running. She could tell Liz was still tired...as was herself. "So who...are we looking...for?" She started to pant.  
  
Liz wondered if she spilled the names of everyone in the Aliens-among-us- club Lara would have a clue...would it be wasted breath? Who cares anymore. "Maria, Michael, and Kyle."  
  
"Oh..." They sped by a few classrooms, and Lara decided to backtrack and check the science lab. "Liz, in here." She opened the door and stepped in. "Wow...the school won't be happy about this mess." There were broken beakers scattered on the floor, overturned chairs, and more broken thingamabobs that would surely cost money. "Hello? ...Is anyone here? He-"  
  
A new voice inturrupted. "Yo who's there?"  
  
Liz recognized it. "Michael? Is that you? Where are you?"  
  
The form rose from behind the teacher's desk. "Lovely game of Hide 'n Seek isn't it?"  
  
"Yeah, just great. Are you okay? Injured at all? Heck of a day for you to actually go to class."  
  
"Tell me about it. I'm fine. What's going on out there?"  
  
"Cops and paramedics came. The two kids were arrested...I didn't see who it was."  
  
Michael had just noticed Lara. Still focusing on Liz, he said, "So who's the girl?"  
  
Lara knew he was talking about her, "Great manners...Michael, was it? I'm Lara. I just got here last week. SO nice to meet you."  
  
He rolled his eyes. Lara thought they landed on her bloody shirt, judging by the quizzical look he gave her. Self-consciously, she tried to hide it but with no avail.  
  
Liz chuckled. "Well so much for a successful introduction. Come on, we have to look for the others. Have you seen anyone Michael?"  
  
"No, you?"  
  
"Yeah, Max is looking for them too."  
  
A wave of relief obviously flashed across Michael's face and Lara assumed it was due to Max's safety.  
  
Liz broke in this time. "Shouldn't Maria be with you? She had this class I'm sure..." 


End file.
